


the wind will still blow after our endings

by Catory



Category: Kamen Rider W (Double)
Genre: Gen, Mentioned Abuse, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 02:51:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14299167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catory/pseuds/Catory
Summary: It's not like Wakana dislikes her sister's husband. Well. She doesn't really like him (because what kind of person could fall in love with Saeko? What kind of fool, or monster—) but that's beside the point.The point is, Wakana doesn't hate Kirihiko.





	the wind will still blow after our endings

It's not like Wakana dislikes her sister's husband. Well. She doesn't really like him (because what kind of person could fall in love with Saeko? What kind of fool, or monster—) but that's beside the point.

The point is, Wakana doesn't _hate_ Kirihiko. He's kinda smarmy and stupid and so clearly head-over-heels for Saeko that it's embarrassing to watch but hey, she's dealt with worse. At least he's not a Healing Princess fanboy.

The point is, Wakana sees Kirihiko stumble out into the hallway one day and hit the wall on the other side with a thud. She sees him touch his cheek in disbelief. (Saeko must really be mad, if she's risking bruises where other people could see. She's not usually so careless.) Kirihiko slides down the wall like his legs can't hold his weight, and Wakana feels a bizarre twinge of sympathy because yeah, she's been there.

You're a Sonozaki now too, you poor sucker. Get used to it.

And maybe it's because of some bizarre form of camaraderie, and maybe it's because this is the first time she's seen Kirihiko anything other than smugly composed, but for whatever reason, Wakana finds herself walking over and sticking a hand out.

Kirihiko looks up at her in confusion.

Wakana rolls her eyes. "Tch. You really are stupid." She sticks her hand out more insistently. "Get up. If she sees you sitting here when she opens the door again you're just going to get in even more trouble."

Kirihiko hesitantly takes her hand, and she yanks him up. She ignores the way he stumbles over his own feet as she starts dragging him away.

"We need to get you out of the house." Wakana says. "Give her some time to cool off."

Kirihiko blinks at her owlishly. "But I'm supposed to be working—"

"Well, then just say that this was my idea!" Wakana snaps at him. "What, do you _want_ her to find you again?"

Kirihiko's silent for a moment. "…No." He finally admits. His grip on her hand tightens. "No, I don't."

* * *

Shopping, Wakana decides. She'd already been dressed to go out before she picked up a stray, and she's not exactly going to change her plans now.

They're walking over a bridge to a newly opened mall on the other side of the harbor, and she's got a baseball cap on just in case someone recognizes her. (They probably won't. She's got it on good authority that she looks nothing like herself when she doesn't have makeup on.)

Kirihiko's got one of her scarves wrapped around the lower half of his face. Nobody really looks twice at him— it's getting pretty cold out, and he's not the only one. Wakana can see a little bit of dark purple blooming across his skin, before he adjusts the scarf up higher. Mentally, she adds makeup to the list of things to pick up today.

"Got your wallet? Cool. You're paying, then. It's the least you can do." Wakana says out loud. She looks Kirihiko up and down and frowns. "You know, you should get some new clothes. Do you even have anything besides like, a zillion copies of the same suit? It's like you never heard of variety before—"

Kirihiko's eyes are crinkling upwards in a laugh, and Wakana cuts off with a scowl. "Hey! I'm trying to do you a favor here! Don't laugh!"

He shakes his head. "Ah, no, it's not that— It's just. You sound like my sister."

"…You have a sister?"

In response, Kirihiko stops walking and opens up his wallet. He takes out a picture, a bit worn at the edges, of him with a short-haired girl. They're both smiling widely. "She's doing graduate school in America," Kirihiko explains proudly. "She's always been much smarter than me."

Wakana didn't know he had a sister. (Wakana's never given two damns about the men that Saeko had brought home before.)

"What's her name?" She asks.

"Yukie. Sudo Yukie." Kirihiko looks at Wakana. "You know, you remind me of her. You're both very strong-willed."

Wakana wrinkles her nose. "Is that supposed to be a compliment? It doesn't really sound like one."

Kirihiko laughs as he leans back against the bridge railing. "There's nothing wrong with knowing what you want. It's something I admire about both you and—" his voice wavers "—Saeko."

Wakana can't help but take a quick glance around, like saying her name out loud might have summoned her. "…I've always wanted to ask. What do any of you see in her? You or any of the other guys wh're always fawning over her. I mean," She hastily adds. "I know that she's beautiful. Everyone says she's beautiful. But you couldn't possibly have missed all the rumors. Is my sister really worth it?"

Kirihiko absently touches his bruised neck. "No, I didn't miss the rumors. I'll admit, though, I'd thought that they were exaggerated."

He looks up at the sky as if it has answers for him. "When I first met her, I admired her resolve, and her clarity of purpose, but perhaps… she's not quite the person I'd thought she was. Or maybe she's exactly what I thought she was, and it's myself that is lacking. I think… I'm beginning to understand that I don't understand anything of importance at all." He smiles tiredly down at his shoes. "Still, I can't not love a force of nature like her. Even if it's killing me."

There's something raw and honest about Kirihiko's tone, like all the artifice she's used to hearing from him has been blown away in the wind.

Wakana looks away.

There's no _if_ about it, she wants to say. Saeko's going to end up carving your heart right out of your chest someday.

I still care about Saeko, she wants to say. I think I get it, at least a little bit.

Think of your own sister, she wants to say. You're family, aren't you? Don't you care about what happens to her?

Someday I'm going to take a train out of Fuuto and I won't stop until I get to a station where nobody knows my name, she wants to say. It's not too late for either of us.

Wakana has never considered herself a coward. But— 

She can't quite bring herself to say any of the things she's thinking out loud. "…Yeah, I guess. Do whatever."

Kirihiko smiles at her knowingly. He doesn't know a thing. "It'll be alright in the end. That's something I've always believed."

"Don't be stupid," Wakana snaps, as she looks out over the water. 

"But… I guess that would be nice." She confesses, softly. "If everything worked out in the end."

The sun shines, and Fuuto's ever-present windmills keep on turning in the background.

"It'd be nice," she repeats to herself.  
  



End file.
